Trans News/ Issues

[Nadeest]

Originally Posted by EnderD_503

Lol, for sure. Honestly, if there is any logic in the American legal system she should be able to win her case easily...but that not to say that there is any such logic when it comes to how legal systems deal with trans people.

Those laws forbidding women to go topless are ridiculous anyways, imo. They should just get rid of it. They do not protect women as the law claims it does, and neither are topless women "obscene" as such a law suggests they are.



Yeah, the cab driver's story is really fucked up, too, imo. I haven't seen much follow up on him online, unfortunately, other than police say they were going to re-interview him. That he didn't even call 911 when he heard her being attacked over the phone is pretty ridiculous. Not to mention that he only called her mother after some time had passed. Even if he hadn't waited around to make sure she was safe, he should have called the cops after hearing her being attacked.

Has anyone heard more about this transwoman's arrest, and what is happening to her now, and her lawsuits?

[Nadeest]

The above question is for woman mentioned in this link: http://news.advocate.com/post/128941...ess-dmv-fiasco

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by Nadeest

Has anyone heard more about this transwoman's arrest, and what is happening to her now, and her lawsuits?

I haven't heard anything about her since November. Even a google search didn't really turn up anything about her since November, and haven't heard of any talk about her elsewhere.

[EnderD_503]

I also wanted to make a separate post to briefly come back to the previous discussion of Neil Patrick Harris and his comments. I'm sure by now people will be rolling their eyes, but his comments are really the tip of a greater iceberg. That people think his comments were limited to a certain character or certain people within the transgender spectrum is something that I still feel denies even general awareness of transphobia in the film industry, and how even representations that transpeople view as inaccurate continue to play off general public anxiety. In that sense, not only are the issues I mentioned before important, but also the cinematic tradition he was catering to...which is what leads to the greater issue of representation.

I ran across these links recently, thought of this thread and thought I'd come share them. They discuss the frequent use of transgender (or, as far as their contemporary terminology, "transvestite" or "transsexual") villains in horror films (or villains in general), including popular films like Psycho and Silence of the Lambs:

http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/film-quotations.html

http://www.glaad.org/2008/10/23/nega...-film-explored

http://www.horroryearbook.com/544026...-killer-movies

[weatherboi]

by STEPHEN IRA on JANUARY 23, 2012





http://www.originalplumbing.com/2012...either-please/



Trans brothers, dear dear dear men, whom I respect and look up to and adore, allow me to quote noted gender theorist Inigo Montoya:

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I’m writing this because there’s been tons of talk about this slur recently. Trans men, some of them high profile, using tr*nny, trans women calling them on it, trans men demanding that they have a right to say it, et cetera. So before I start the serious stuff, I want to say that I’m not who you should listen to. This is really a trans women’s issue. You should listen to trans women. But they are already talking, and from your reactions, it’s clear we need to talk about this. From one trans guy to a bunch of others.

I’m not mad, guys. Well, ok, I’m a little mad. But mostly I just want to help fix this. We’ve made some bad mistakes. I used to use this word too, and I own that. I fucked up. We fucked up. Now let’s work to make this better.

Tr*nny is a slur. I think we’ve all agreed on that. Diverse sources, from Julia Serano to Kelly Osbourne, all agree. But for whom is it a slur? We know what image is summoned when we hear n*gger–a Black body. When we hear fag–a queer male body. When we hear d*ke–a queer female body. These words evoke certain identities. There are clear images associated with them. Fags are effeminate. D*kes are too masculine to be proper women. What clear image is evoked by tr*nny?

You know as well as I do: it’s the image of a trans woman. A “male” body, or rather, a body doctors would assign as male, in women’s clothing. A person attempting–and always failing, in these images–to be female. That’s what the image has historically been, and with only a few tiny changes, that’s what the image is now.

Whenever I have this debate, I suggest people google “tr*nny.” I stand by that suggestion. Click over the image tab and you’ll see trans women and drag queens galore, a few car parts, and fabulously enough, a picture of Kate Bornstein with a photoshopped mermaid’s tail, but almost never a trans man. When you do see trans men online associated with the slur, they’re almost always calling themselves tr*nnies. They’re not having the word pinned on them by cis people. This distinction is excruciatingly important.

The fact that cis people don’t call trans men tr*nnies very often illuminates two important things about trans male experience: the degree to which are and have been invisible, and what a weird place we stand in as female-assigned men in a patriarchal world.

The invisibility is a big part of what’s scary about being a trans man. We’re so unspeakable that there isn’t even a common word used to degrade exclusively us. When we look into history for gender variant people, we see trans women, and we see this word used against them. We see few trans men, and just like those historical trans men are mostly invisible, so are the structures of oppression used to keep them down.

Reclaiming tr*nny feels like a way to have a history. But that word was never our history. It feels like a way to name and confront those invisible oppressive structures. But it doesn’t do that work, because while the structures that oppress trans women have many elements in common with the ones that oppress us, they’re not the exact same ones.

That’s because, like I said, trans men are in such a weird position in relation to patriarchy. To the patriarchal eye, we seem to following the sexist imperative that being a man is better than being a woman, which of course the patriarchy is all for. But we’re doing it by violating another central patriarchal imperative: that people with vaginas are women.

So we move through this sexist world in a peculiar manner–able to wield our male privilege when we’re allowed to function as men, but subject to a particularly painful brand of transphobic and homophobic sexism when we’re understood as women.

Sure, sometimes trans guys get called tr*nny. But let’s please be real: It’s not that often, and it’s a recent phenomenon. Maybe we’ll get to the point where it’s a common enough slur against trans men that we can start to have the reclamation conversation. But man, I hope we don’t. It’s depressing and comical, us wanting our very own slur.

Sure, you might have a trans woman friend who doesn’t mind you calling yourself a tr*nny. This is because women, like men, don’t always agree with one another!

Sure, you may be very attached to the word “tr*nny” as a part of your identity. You can identify as anything you want! But if it is absolutely imperative for you to use that word, and you using that word makes trans women feel unsafe around you, I’m not sure what to tell you. Maybe you should do some work within yourself, trying to discover why you have such an intense need to own a word that makes people feel unsafe. All of which is to say that, ultimately, your identity is your identity, but you don’t need to share all of it with everyone if it makes them feel unsafe.

Raise your hand if you’re a young white trans guy who went/goes to a liberal arts college and is reading this on his Macbook. (My hand is raised.) Please know that most people who get tr*nny used against them on a daily basis are poor trans women of color. Please try to remember that working to include poor trans women of color in our movement is like, one of the most important things we need to do right now.

Which is more important, working to make trans women feel comfortable and safe in our community, or using a word that makes us feel all tingly and transgressive?

Resist transmisogyny. You do not need someone else’s slur to connect with your own history. Stop using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.

Stephen Ira is a writer and an activist who was assigned West Coast and showbiz but identifies as East Coast and books. He writes poetry, fiction, and essay-shaped objects which have been published in Spot Literary Magazine, 365 Tomorrows, and can be found on his own blog, Super Mattachine.

[Nadeest]

I can tell you that I'm a transwoman and I don't like or want that term applied to me. I'd be upset, in fact, if someone called me that. Mind you, I'm not a transwoman of color, nor am I young. I am, however, poor (at the moment) and in late middle age. When I hear the word 'trannie' I tend to think of an automobile transmission. I hope like hell that I don't look like one of those!

[1ladyface]

Hi All,

A close friend of mine is blogging for

originalplumbing.com

as Inmate 12004. He's a transguy and is in jail for 3 months because he recently got his 3rd DUI. He's an alcoholic and is currently in recovery. He's writing to shed some light on the transmale incarceration experience and to open up a dialogue around the issue of substance abuse in the queer community.

I think of OP as a really supportive community but there have already been a couple comments from epic DBags who have made some unfounded and spectacularly inaccurate assumptions about him. Regardless, what Inmate 12004 needs right now is love and support, not d-baggery. Are you a transguy? Or an ally? Have you or a loved one struggled with substance abuse? Please take a minute to contribute something meaningful and kind to the discussion.

lots of love (sans d-baggery),

a somewhat saddened ladyface

[weatherboi]

http://chrismilloy.ca/2012/01/transg...nes-in-canada/



Transgender People are Completely Banned From Boarding Airplanes in Canada



The shit hit the fan in the trans blogosphere last night, when it came to light that there is a disturbing new section in the Identity Screening Regulations used in airports throughout Canada. Simply put, Transgender People are Completely Banned From Boarding Airplanes in Canada.

The offending section of the regulations reads:

5.2 (1) An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if …
(c) the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents;

Although this obviously discriminatory smear of regulation did not come to significant public attention until very recently, it apparently came into effect on July 27th, 2011.

It is important to note that these regulations are not actually a piece of legislation, which would have had to pass through readings and votes in the House and Senate (which is probably why it went unnoticed until now). Rather, the Identity Screening Regulations are a set of rules implemented unilaterally by the Ministry of Transportation, as part of Canada’s so-called Passenger Protect, which is essentially the Canadian Federal Government’s equivalent to the U.S.’s “no-fly” list.

Minister of Transportation Denis Lebel is, of course, a federal Conservative MP appointed to the cabinet position by Stephen Harper.

So what does this mean? Well, in order to change the ‘sex’ designation on a Canadian Passport, the federal government requires proof that surgery has taken place, or will take place within one year. So for non-operative transgender persons, for gender nonconforming (genderqueer) persons, and for the vast majority of pre-operative transsexual persons, it is literally impossible to obtain proper travel documentation marked with the sex designation which “matches” the gender identity in which they live.

In the eyes of the honourable Minister of Transportation, that makes trans people unfit to fly in Canada.

It is interesting to note that this regulatory adjustment occurred immediately following the federal election in 2011. In the previous parliament, Bill C-389, a bill to amend the Human Rights Code to explicitly enshrine protections against discrimination for transgender people, had successfully passed in the House of Commons, only to die on the Senate floor when Harper declared a Federal Election (thereby dissolving parliament).

Is the timing of this disturbing and blatantly discriminatory regulatory adjustment merely a coincidence? That is up to you to decide. However, the negative impact on trans people is crystal clear, and we need to take action now.

What You Can Do:

Find Your MP and write them a letter. Tell them you are not okay with this discrimination.
Contact the honourable Minister of Transportation Denis Lebel by phone, letter, or email.
Share this article by clicking the “Like” or “Recommend” button above (or below).
Sign this online petition: Tell Harper to Allow Trans People to Fly on Airplanes
Facebook Group: À bas l’interdiction aérienne transphobe—Against Canada’s trans flight ban

Recommended Further Reading:

Air Canada confirms they must comply with transphobic law (Jennifer McCreath)

Canadian Department of Justice…Here comes Josie!! (TranssisterR8TO)

UPDATE – JAN 30 17:51

I want to stress that as yet, I have no confirmed cases of a trans person actually being refused boarding. However, as I commented on leftygirl’s blog this afternoon:

Regardless of who may be slipping through the cracks due to matters of convenience or due to individual cases of ignorance on the part of the airport gateminders, the regs are the regs. And the regs ban trans people explicitly by their definition. We cannot allow regs which judge people based on how they “appear” to be gendered; it is unacceptable.